Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Federated Investors Inc. (NYSE:FII) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday.

According to Zacks, “We remain concerned about Federated’s asset under management owing to volatility in equity markets. Further, stringent regulations in the investment management business will hurt its profitability. Also, compliance-related fees are expected to continue rising in the near term. Notably, management expects compensation expenses to increase to $74 million in third-quarter 2016. Also, fee waivers for third-quarter 2016 are estimated to result in a negative pre-tax impact of $4 million.This will continue to exert pressure on the company’s earnings. However, Federated’s growth potential looks encouraging, given its diversified investment products and strategic expansion moves. Moreover, steady capital deployment activities should enhance shareholders’ value.”

Several other analysts have also recently commented on FII. Jefferies Group reiterated a buy rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $36.00) on shares of Federated Investors in a research report on Monday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Federated Investors from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, August 1st. Finally, Credit Suisse Group AG set a $27.00 target price on shares of Federated Investors and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Sunday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $30.13.

Shares of Federated Investors (NYSE:FII) opened at 27.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10 and a beta of 1.51. Federated Investors has a one year low of $22.76 and a one year high of $33.13. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.75.

Federated Investors (NYSE:FII) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The company earned $286.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.39 million. Federated Investors had a net margin of 18.30% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Federated Investors will post $1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Federated Investors by 0.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,675,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,183,000 after buying an additional 10,580 shares during the last quarter. Americafirst Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Federated Investors during the second quarter worth $101,000. Springbok Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Federated Investors during the first quarter worth $640,000. Teachers Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Federated Investors by 85.2% in the first quarter. Teachers Advisors Inc. now owns 135,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,905,000 after buying an additional 62,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Federated Investors by 78.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 61,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,765,000 after buying an additional 26,803 shares during the last quarter. 75.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Federated Investors

Federated Investors, Inc (Federated) is a provider of investment management products and related financial services. The Company is engaged in sponsoring, marketing and providing investment-related services to various investment products, including mutual funds and Separate Accounts, which include separately managed accounts, institutional accounts, sub-advised funds and other managed products, in both domestic and international markets.